


Freakshow

by Shatterflowerdemon



Series: The Freak 'Verse [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), First Meetings, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Meet-Cute, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Pre-Slash, Reader IS NOT an oc, Sans being a good brother, Tiny Bit of Hurt/Comfort, You are reader, being friends with the skelebros, gender neutral reader, implied animal death, monsterphobe, no beta we die like men, paps has a moment but he's ok, starts with someone being a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:40:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27707788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterflowerdemon/pseuds/Shatterflowerdemon
Summary: You indirectly meet two skeleton brothers when you tell a stranger to shut the fuck up. Later on, you meet one of them again. It's the start of something beautiful. They start to feel like home.Maybe one day you’ll understand why sans has an aversion towards sharp objects and why papyrus avoids animal death like the plague.
Relationships: Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Papyrus/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader, Sans/Reader, Sans/Reader (Platonic)
Series: The Freak 'Verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026547
Comments: 8
Kudos: 122





	Freakshow

**Author's Note:**

> This forced it's way out of my brain after I already have two other WIPs. I promise I'll finish my sans/reader fics next chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this pet project of mine!

"What a freakshow."

Your head snaps to the left, where you see the speaker. You set your eyes on him in irritation. Then you see where he's looking. Two skeletons have entered the bakery. The taller one has a smile on his face, but he doesn't look happy. The shorter one has his red eyelight stuck to the man who commented.

You keep your focus on the human as you see the two skeletons order from the edge of your vision. He proceeds to complain to his uncomfortable-looking date mate.

Okay, fuck this.  
There are no kids in the store, which is nice. You can speak freely.

"Hey, pal! You! Do us all a favor and shut the fuck up!" You snap.

The man looks accosted as he gapes at you. His meal partner smiles at you. They toss down cash and leave the bakery. He stutters as he runs after the leaving person. Good riddance.

You grumble to yourself at your table. Fucking pricks, no damn common decency anymore.

The two skeletons come back to your awareness as they take the table next to you. You smile at them. If only you could apologize for the douchebags that share your species.

You turn back to your computer in front of you and type feverishly, still somewhat worked up from earlier. The hot iron of anger fades as you work. You can hear a muffled conversation from beside you but pay no attention as it isn't your business.

Then, you notice a battered slip of paper land on the table in front of you. Your head whirls as you look around the bakery. There's a sliver of blue fabric as the shorter skeleton heads out the door.

The paper is in your hands before you blink.

'thanks'

You crack a smile.

You see the skeletons again. The taller one at a bookstore, where you both lock eyes as he heads for the culinary section. His expression is warm, and you greet him with a smile and a bob of your head. He waves and winds around the corner.

You find what book you were looking for and check out. When you're grabbing your things, you hear the skeleton ask the clerk for directions. You perk up as it's somewhere you know well enough. The clerk admits they just recently moved to the area. No one else speaks up in the store.

"I know the place you're looking for," you state.

He looks at you.

You whip your phone out and pull up the place via search. You flash him the screen and make gestures. "If you turn down the street next to this store here and continue down, you'll reach it."

He nods, and you realize something. "If you have a phone, you could type in this address into your GPS."

He looks embarrassed. It's cute.

"I uh- had forgotten about that feature, my old phone was very different, and I'm still used to it."

He's twiddling his thumbs. Fuck that is adorable.

"I get it, old habits die hard," you say.

You rattle off the address for him as he types it into his new phone's GPS. It dings, and you know it's started routing.

"Well, see you later uh....?" You trail off

He beams. "Papyrus! That's my name."

You grin. His good mood is infectious.

"I'm ____," you extend your hand to him, "it's nice to meet you for real, Papyrus."

He takes your hand, gently. He may be tall and exuberant, but his grip belied his conscientious nature. Sweet, in summary.

His grin is wider than before, if possible.  
"Likewise, ____!"

You two chat before he leaves, but you both feel that hesitance to separate. You ruminate to yourself as you watch him walk away. His head turns to look back at you. Alright, you're convinced.

"Papyrus!" You speak a touch louder than you meant to and wince. He pauses, and you jog towards him.

"Do you uh... this is kind of forward, but I enjoyed talking to you, so I wondered if..." You speak anxiously and hurriedly.

"If we could swap numbers?" He finishes for you. There's a hopeful glint in his eyes.

You let out a sigh of relief.  
"Yes, only if you want to, of course."

He pulls out his phone from his pants pocket.  
"I want to," he says.

The two of you chat on and off for a few days. He mentions his sibling from the bakery here and there. Sans must be a good character for his brother to hold him in such high regard. It's sweet.

One day, you mention you're watching anime with a friend of yours and someone she's inviting. Papyrus doesn't respond right away, but he eventually divulges that he also has anime-watching plans with a friend. You chuckle about the coincidence as you walk up to Alphys' door. You knock five times and announce yourself. The action helps her feel safer, as both of you had discussed it prior.

The door creaks open, and you spot Alphys. You smile at her and hold up the bag of snacks you brought.

"I hope you like pocky," you say. As if you don't already know, it's one of her favorite snacks.

The dinosaur clenches her hand in your shirt hem for a moment in greeting. She's in a good mood, but anxious. You set down the bag of snacks on her side table. When you come up from the slightly bent position, you spot a gaping Papyrus. Your eyes blink. Once, twice. Then you laugh, absolutely ecstatic and surprised.

Alphys looks between the two of you in confusion. You make sure to smile in her direction.

"Hey, Papyrus," you say, still a little breathless from laughing.

Understanding flickers across Alphys' expression. You grin.

"____! I did not expect for us to have a mutual friend, but I'm glad," he chirps.

Alphys has relaxed again and plops down in the middle of the couch. She trusts Papyrus, and so do you. You take a seat on her other side. Anime night!

Meeting sans, (again?) happened relatively soon after that. Papyrus had informed you that he wanted you to come to his house for a hangout. Finding out that the both of you shared a friend helped build your connection faster. Alphys didn't trust too easily. If they were comfortable with each other, then you knew that Papyrus was a good soul, as if you couldn't tell already.

You got ready and messaged Papyrus that you were on your way to your meeting spot. He mentioned that he wanted to walk with you to his house to show you around. So naturally, you picked a meeting place together. That meeting place was the bookstore.

You spotted him as he rounded a corner and turned onto the street you were standing on.

"Papyrus!"  
"____!"

You say each other's names at the same time and fall into giggles. That's rather endearing. The two of you chatter as you walk, and Papyrus shows you all the local spots. He announces every location with a sense of warm familiarity. You observe the hot dog stand where his brother works, some sort of bar/restaurant called Grillby's, and a park where the local children play.

Papyrus lists anecdotes on the way. Including how some of the local monster kids would play hot dog stack at his brother's work stand. The two of you argued over hot dog physics, but not out of malice. It was a gentle debate.

You chuckled at an accidental pun he had made. He huffs.

"You and Sans! Terrible Puns, Be Ashamed," he groans.

You wipe teardrops from the corners of your eyes. "Oh, forgive me, Great Papyrus! I shall repent for my language crimes!"

He crosses his arms in mock repugnance. "See That You Do, Criminal!"

You watch the façade crumble as he laughs. You join in, too.

You both arrive at their house. It's cute and has decorations that give it a homey feel. There are Christmas lights strung up across the inside of the porch. You see an adorable doormat with bones on it. There are rocking chairs and a small table in front of the window to the house. The shutters are closed.

You make sure to wipe your shoes off thoroughly.

"You Can Take Those Off If You'd Like," Papyrus says.

He takes his boots off and sets them in a shoe basket. You do the same. As you observe the house, you feel....small. Not intimidated! Just anxious about making a good impression and enjoying time with Papyrus, and sans?

Papyrus gives you a rundown of where the bathroom, living room, and kitchen are.

"My Brother Gets Off Work In A Bit! But, Have No fear! He Will Surely See How Good Of A Friend You Are," he says matter-of-factly. You're touched.

"Awh, Papyrus, you're the best! I'm flattered you think so," you say.

You're more relaxed now. This is the same sans that introduced Papyrus to bunny stories (it was mentioned offhandedly once, in the bookstore.) You have nothing to be worried about.

You are a little worried, regardless.

Sans comes in a little bit later, just as Papyrus had predicted. He silently entered and taken off his scuffed sneakers. Sans slipped on a pair of pink slippers, and when his head rose, he noticed you. You could tell that when he was looking at you, he wasn't fully processing what was going on. He shuffled over to a calendar on the wall. He paused and then turned around. You heard the movie in front of you but, you couldn't tear your eyes off of his expression. A deer caught in headlights.

He stopped in front of your right side. The two of you stared at one another for a few seconds. He seems to have made his mind up as he outstretches his boney hand in a handshake.

" 'm sans," he says, plainly. As if you hadn't been making intense eye contact. You smile and take his hand.

His grip was lazy, but you couldn't help but feel as if he was taking it easy on you. Like you were made of glass.

"I'm ___, but, uh I guess you knew that," you fumble. There's something like cold slime curling down your spine. Before you can react, it's gone.

His grin seems more natural then. Sans then plops himself down next to you on the couch. You bounce a little from the impact. Papyrus sends a look at sans over your head. Your attention sticks to the movie in front of you.

The rest of the hang out goes wonderfully. Papyrus managed to rope sans into playing board games with the two of you. Papyrus is very good at tactical games and puzzles. Sans, for his lack of conversation, is good at language games. You chalk it up to him not knowing you that well.

After gaming, Papyrus announces his meal plan.

"Spaghetti? Cool, do you want any help?" You ask him.

He beams. "Friendship Spaghetti Is The Best!"

He pulls down a bucket from a high up cabinet. It has enough supplies for the meal.

You consider the sink in the kitchen for a moment. "Papyrus, do you have a uh, stool or something I can use?"

He turns to you. "Maybe? However, if I may...." He says. Papyrus bends down to your height and positions his hands as if he's about to pick you up. You consider it.

"That works," you tell him. You swivel around so he can pick you up from behind. He lifts you slowly and holds you up to the sink. You turn on the faucet. Washing your hands doesn't take too long. For someone with no muscles, Papyrus' hold was steady. It was comforting, even if being held under your arms made moving them a little odd. His oven mitts held you with unwavering fortitude. Then it was over.

Papyrus sets you down gently on the floor. Your feet landed evenly. He looked down at you softly, with his hands sliding up to your shoulders. Sans walked past the kitchen entrance, whistling. This snapped Papyrus back into focus. Papyrus straightened and lifted his hands from your shoulders.

"Ahem- Now, I'll Go Find The Pots," he says. Is he flustered? That's cute, but you couldn't argue that you felt a little warm, too.

"Okay, I'll get to work in the meantime," you reply. Papyrus searches for the pots while you open the noodle box and pasta sauce.

The two of you lapse into a comfortable partnership. You work efficiently once you figure out how to move around each other. Your tall friend cuts the garlic while you check the noodles. You wind and weave around each other while performing various tasks. You speak in short sentences. Nothing more was necessary. The meal was then finished.

You set the table while Papyrus washed the dishes. You tried to squash down the slight disappointment from the lost chance to play elevator. The two of you made your plates and sat down. You assumed sans was in the living room.

"Sans! Come Eat!" Papyrus called. After a literal second, he started to march towards the stairs. You could see him ready himself for another holler before- pop! Sans was suddenly standing next to the table. You blinked. Uh, okay.

Papyrus rolled his eyes fondly and sat down. "Lazybones," he muttered.

You chuckled. Sans' red eyelight was on you and his brother the entire time. The meal was delicious.

"You know your way around a kitchen, Papyrus," you say.

He beams at the praise.  
"Thank You, Tiny," he pauses as if he said something on accident, "I-I mean, thank you, ____."

Your heart feels warm, and you could feel it constrict in your chest. Papyrus = sweetheart.

"Do you want to call me tiny?" You ask him. You see color flicker across his cheekbones before he rushes to cover it with his gloved hands.

"I-I," he pauses and flicks a panicked look at sans. Sans' eyelight bores into his brothers with intense curiosity.

You feel a hot prickle of concern touch you. Papyrus seems to have steeled his expression. His braced teeth clack together firmly, and he wrenches his hands to his lap. He draws in a deep breath- odd for a skeleton- and then makes direct eye contact with you.

"___ I appreciate your existence and highly value your company, I would not want to make you uncomfortable, but it would please me for you to allow me to give you a title." He declares.

That.... sounded more serious than 'hey, here's a nickname.' Maybe it's a cultural thing?

"Uh, is there some sort of cultural reference I'm not understanding? That sounded very serious, and you called it a title?" You ask, unsurely.

There's that color on his cheekbones again. It's deeper, somehow. Sans snickers as if finding this entertaining. You get the feeling that you passed some sort of test.

Papyrus sets his hands firmly onto the table, face down. His eyelights plant onto his plate and stay there as he replies.

"In monster culture, a title is how we uhm, announce that we are close to someone. It depends on intent, but uh, it's harder to tell intent from English rather than our native language. So uhm, basically I had announced our familiarity level....."

You take this in carefully. "So it's like you're announcing that I'm a part of your group? Like, calling your friend 'sister', or wearing matching jackets?"

Sans chortles suddenly. He speaks a broken sentence of a language you cannot put into words before he snickers again. It felt almost like you were missing subtext.

Papyrus drags his hand down his face. "Damnit, Sans."

Your head whips to face Papyrus in shock. Sans is absolutely losing his shit. Holy fuck, he's slapping the table and full-body shaking from the force of his cackling. You can't help but laugh.

You wipe your eyes. Warmth fills you from wonderful friendship.

"I don't understand fully, but I don't mind you giving me a title, as long as you're comfortable." You say.

Sans is now calm. His finger scratches at his beanie. " 's like declaring your loyalty and connection to someone," he says.

Your eyebrows furrow. "Shouldn't I give you one back, then?" You ask.

Papyrus still looks embarrassed, but less so. "If you want to, I would like that," he answers.

You pause for a moment and observe your tall friend.

"Sugar," you announce. You remember the part about intent. "I uh, you said something about intent, so I think you're a wonderful friend, and I want to be friends for a very long time. You're sweet and kind-hearted. Thank you for being my friend, Sugar." Embarrassment warms you from the inside. You spoke honestly and frankly, a lot.

His eyelights and your eyes lock. You smile. Dinner wraps up after that. Sans doesn't seem as cold as before. Could it be because of the titles? Meh, you were thankful.

You clean the table off while Papyrus washes dishes. Sans ponders their movie collection. You notice that they're all recent movies as if the collection was new. Now that you think about it, the only thing that didn't seem new was Sans’’ jacket and Papyrus’ scarf. Then again, you hadn't seen all of the rooms yet.

You finish the table cleaning and announce that you're going to the bathroom. You finish your business. When you leave the bathroom, you notice the wind had picked up, and the clouds were dark. Inordinately dark for the hour.

You jerk your thumb towards the window. "Should I be worried about that?"

Papyrus frowns and looks at sans, who is next to him on the couch. Sans glances from Sugar to you, to the window. He shuffles to the window and opens it. He sticks his face out of it. "short storm. Might get dark," he says. Well, okay, forecaster sans.

Papyrus takes this in, "If It Gets Darker, And It Does Not Stop, I Could Drive You, Tiny," he says.

You look from sans to Papyrus. "I'd appreciate it, sorry," you reply.

Papyrus beams, "It Is No Problem, Tiny!"

Sans walks away from the window and sits down next to you. You're in the middle seat of the couch. Papyrus starts the movie. It starts like your average drama movie. Then a dog dies and your heart aches. Papyrus whimpers beside you. The TV turns off suddenly. The remote lands on the coffee table in front of you in a rusty haze.

Papyrus is shaking. Sans slips off the couch and walks to stand in front of his brother. "Hey, paps, what can ya see?" he asks.

You shift back to give Sugar room. Best not to touch him without permission. Paps shakes a little less, now. "I-I see you, our TV, the wall...." He fades off a little.

Sans breathes out a sigh. " 's okay, what can ya hear?"

Papyrus keeps his eyes on his brother. "Breathing, the fan, whimp-, cars," he mumbles.

Sans nods his head. "Good, you did perfect, bro, just focus on that."

Papyrus's hands twitch. "my journal?" He asks, hoarsely.

Sans looks from you to Sugar, "Will ya be okay if I go 'n get it?"  
Papyrus nods and evens out his breathing. Must be a habit? Some sort of learned behavior, probably.

Sans looks hesitant to leave, but he walks upstairs. To avoid shocking Papyrus, you think. You look at Papyrus, concerned. "Hey, Sugar, remember that drink you recommend me?" He nods. You say, "I tried it the other day, and it was good." He smiles, and it looks a little forced. At least he's calmer. Papyrus has stopped shaking, at last.

You flip your palms up and put them on your knees. "I'm here if you need me, Sugar," you say.

He smiles goofily and places a covered hand in yours. "Sugar, I like that." He admits. You smile and let him grip your hand, not even twitching. Sans walks back downstairs with a well-loved journal in tow. 'COOL DUDE' is scratched onto the front.

Papyrus takes it with a hum. You debate on which way to scootch for sans to sit down. Wordlessly, Sugar tugs you towards him. You follow his lead and scootch to the middle cushion. Sugar skillfully flips through his journal with one hand. You politely avoid looking at its contents. Sans sits down beside you.

The two of you make eye contact, and he mutters something in that language you can't understand, again. Maybe you do understand something, though. A feeling of gratefulness and acceptance tingles up your spine and into your chest. Is that what they meant by intent is easier to feel in their native language?

No wonder monsters can be so honest with their feelings. Their language seems to have been built around emotions. It feels as if the two of you have now fully cemented the fact that you both have something in common. Papyrus. You can't help but feel as if your place in that middle of that couch is where you belong.

The storm eases up soon after that. Papyrus flipped through his journal some more and eventually seemed to be back to his normal self. You decided not to press and let him set his boundaries. Eventually, he slides his journal onto the coffee table, and the two of you chatter about books and puzzles. Sans would slip in every so often with a pun, joke, or reference you may or may not have understood. What's a Mettaton?

Things lull to a comfortable silence. Papyrus lies comfortable on the couch, eye sockets shut. Sans gets off the couch. "I'll walk ya home, Tiny."

You nod and stand. "Bye, Sugar," you say.

Papyrus smiles softly, and his eye sockets open. "Goodbye, Tiny," he says.

Sans pats his brother's knee and walks to the door. You both exit and start walking. You felt a little awkward. He turns his eyelights to you while waiting for traffic to pass. "I 'preciate whatcha did back there." he says.

You look at him for a moment. "It's no biggie," you tell him. Sans hums and lightly touches his beanie.

"Still," he says, "it means a lot."

You're not sure he's still talking about Papyrus. The rest of the walk is silent. You stop in front of your apartment building. "Well, this is me," you announce.

He hums and stares off for a moment. You start to turn towards the building when sans clumsily pulls his phone out. It almost falls from his fumbling. Sans taps a few buttons before flashing you the screen. He had pulled up his contact information.

You blink before piecing it together. Sans' red eyelight flickers away from you, and his free hand tugs on his beanie.

" 'n case ya need somthin' " he mumbles. Oh, that's endearing. You quickly set him as a contact on your phone. 'Sans' seems appropriate.

"Do you want mine, too?" you ask him.

"Yeah," he replies. You tuck your phone away and take his phone in your hand. Typing in your number takes three seconds, tops. He makes a sound you can't understand and puts his phone in his parka's pocket.

You smile. "Thanks for walking me, see you around?"

He smiles a little back. "Yeah, see ya around," he says.

You walk to your door. When you glance back, sans is nowhere to be found.

You received a warm and appreciative text from Sugar that night. He thanks you for being there for him, and you respond with affection. You were just glad that he was alright now. Both of you discuss the intense game of trouble you had earlier in the day.

He catches you slightly off guard with a question. ‘Do you mind if sans joins our next hang out?’ Naturally, you respond that you don’t mind at all. The more the merrier. Plus, you think you could bond with sans. He really did care about his brother, and he treated you decently. You discuss hangout ideas and puzzles before you wind down for the night.

The three of you hang out often now. The skelebros have become important fixtures in your life by now. Sometimes, one of you is busy so you just hang out with the other. That doesn’t mean you stop enjoying your time with that brother, though.

Lately, you’ve noticed sans looking like he was thinking about something harder than usual. Sometimes, it takes him a bit to piece his thought process together. He’s doing it right now.

You’re decorating a cake with Papyrus. Sans sits on the counter behind you. His legs have stopped swinging and his hand rests under his chin. You notice sans’ eyelights have gotten fuzzy. Yep, he’s lost in thought. He looks peaceful, his expression is relaxed and you watch as his faux lips twitch into an almost smile.

Sans blinks his eye sockets and looks up. You meet eye(lights). The embarrassing prickle of being caught staring makes you warm. He smiles for real this time, and you return it. Papyrus says something you don’t catch. You turn back to the cake. Its icing is raspberry flavored.

You place your hands on your hips and back away from the cake. Papyrus inspects the decoration and nods. You flash him a thumbs up and begin to gather plates. Sans shimmies off the countertop and lands with a soft tap. Sugar slices off three evenly sized portions and plates them. Having grabbed utensils, you walk out of the kitchen. Papyrus balances a plate on each gloved hand. Sans carries his plate firmly with two hands.

“looks good, guys,” sans says. Sugar beams at his brother.

“Thank you! Tiny Was Helpful and I Enjoyed The Culinary Finesse Required,” He says. You scoot your chair forward at the table.

“Nah, you were the most helpful, Sugar,” you tell him. Sans has that thoughtful look, again. You dig into the cake. Holy shit, that’s good. You don’t question how your friends are eating right now. Ehh, magic. The cake is your favorite flavor and blends well with the raspberry icing, against your expectations.

You glance at sans and almost fucking blue screen. Rust-colored tears are sliding down his cheekbones. His eyelights are fuzzy and blown out. Are his hands shaking?  
Sans looks up. You idly wondered if sans was made uncomfortable by his beanie, it must be scratchy since he messes with it so much.

“This is fuckin delicious,” he compliments.

“Thank you,” you say. Papyrus mimics you but looks preoccupied with his cake and thoughts.

You’re glad you could help give sans a good snack. The cake wouldn’t do much for them since it was made up of entirely topside ingredients. Note to self: combine ingredients next time. Sans had mentioned water sausages, maybe you could find some?

Either way, you felt happy here. Maybe one day you’ll understand why sans has an aversion towards sharp objects and why Sugar avoids animal death like the plague. You wanted to grow closer, but only when they wanted to tell you, of course. They deserved the best.


End file.
